Panty girdle



Au 8, 1967 SHOJI HORIE 3,334,633

PANTY GIRDLE Filed 001:. 22, 1965 United States Patent 3,334,633 PANTYGIRDLE Shoji Horie, Kyoto, Japan, assignor to Wacoal, Inc., Kyoto,Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 502,012Claims priority, application Japan, Nov. 14, 1964, 39/ 64,434 Claims.(Cl. 128-528) This invention relates to a girdle and more particularlyto a panty girdle.

The invention has for an object the provision of a girdle with a windowhaving a diamond or similar shape on the front and abdominal part of thegirdle which consists of flexible net cloth, said window being fittedwith a front piece having four sides each of which is shorter in lengththan each side of the window, both the girdle and the front piece beingmade of the same material, preferably elastic, and these being sewntogether to obtain a complete girdle.

The above and further objects and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following description of the invention as illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front View of a pattern for said panty girdle before thewindow and the front piece are sewn together;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the panty girdle in which the window and thefront piece have been sewn together; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the panty girdle on a wearer.

There is proposed in accordance with the invention the provision of awindow C having a diamond or similar shape, with curved sides, cut intothe abdominal region of a girdle B of flexible net cloth such as knownby the tradename Operon Power Net or stretchable cloth and fitted with afront piece A consisting of the same cloth as the girdle. Each side 1,2, 3, and 4 of the front piece is shorter than each corresponding side5, 6, 7, and 8 of the window and the sides of the front piece A arestretched and sewn to the corresponding sides of the window. That is,the front piece A is such that the area that covers the window C issmaller than the open area of the window prior to sewing. Also, as seenfrom FIG. 1, the relation between the window C and the front piece A issuch that the difference between the lateral dimensions of the windowand the front piece is greater than the difference between thelongitudinal dimensions of the window and the front piece. This resultsin imparting a greater lateral stretching force to the front piece andits vicinity. In sewing the front piece to the :girdle body, preferablythe sides of the front piece are stretched although the sides of theWindow can be gathered instead.

Due to the fitting of the front piece to the window, there are found anumber of Wrinkles or folds in waveform along the edges of the windowbut the wrinkles are 7 smoothed out by the stretching of the cloth ofthe girdle when the latter is put on by a wearer, while the stretchingof the front piece particularly compresses the abdomen thus sewing toreshape the same and thus improving the figure of the wearer.

In order to reshape the abdomen, the conventional girdles have hithertoused unstretchable cloth for the front part of diamond shape or layersof Power Net cloth to limit the stretching of cloth possibly on thefront part and thus to compress the abdomen indirectly by the pullingforce of the Power Net encircling the body. With respect to the layerconstruction of the unstretchable or Power Net cloth, the compressionwas effected mainly from the expansion or contraction of the girdlearound the body. However, in such construction, the front piece itselfdid not compress the abdomen effectively or positively, but justsupported it passively so that for firmly 3,334,633 Patented Aug. 8,1967 holding the abdomen a rather strong tension was employed for givinga great compression on the whole body.

Further, if it is required to give flexibility and thereby largedimensions of the girdle for the waist, it is almost impossible toreshape the abdomen, although this is the essential object of thegirdle.

As hereinbefore described, it is evident that if an unstretchablediamond front is used the body will lose freedom of movement andconsequently the continued wearing of the girdle may prove quiteunhealthy for the body.

With this in view, the present invention provides a unique and idealtype of the girdle which enables com pressing the abdomen exclusivelyWhile having no influence on the other parts of the body. The girdlemade of Operon Power Net cloth is stretchable in both lateral andvertical directions and when a wearer puts it on, the front piece willstretch about 69% more in the lateral direction than about 70% more inthe vertical direction. It should be noted specifically that a strongerstretching force is exerted on the front part of the girdle.

Another advantage of the invention is its excellent adaptability tomovement of the body thereby enabling it to keep all the daily posturesof the body as ideal as possible. It will be understood that the girdleof this invention is adapted quite well to the body in case of bending.Besides it is very important that the girdle is well fitted to removethe compression from the abdomen in a sitting posture. In contrast tothe conventional girdle whose compression is rather weak on the body ina standing posture but too strong for the same in a sitting condition,the girdle of this invention is able to act more effectively on theabdomen of the wearer in a standing posture and it can readily adjust tothe abdomen in a sitting posture.

The aforesaid features of the girdle are still further amplified by useof a Power Net cloth made of 280 deniers Operon yarn which is weakerthan ordinary Operon 420 deniers yarn. The Power Net cloth of 280deniers yarn is weaker in respect of stretching force so that it cannotserve to reform the figure of the abdomen when applied in conventionalgirdles. However, the girdle according to this invention is not affectedby the weakness of the Power Net cloth in stretching. Since it is theaim of the girdle to lessen the compression of the body, it is muchbetter for the cloth to be weak. As the stretching force of the frontpart is formed by the balance of power of construction, the girdle canwork most effectively not being affected by the quality of materialyarn. Thus, with good adaptability to movement of the body, removal ofcompression, and light weight, the :girdle of this invention can fulfilthe important requirements of foundation garments. The simpleconstruction and fine material avoids unnecessary thickness by virtue ofits thinness and strength.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of apparel comprising a girdle body provided with a windowof generally diamond shape at the front region of said girdle body, anda front piece of said shape connected to corresponding sides of body atsaid window, said girdle body and said front piece both consisting of amaterial stretchable in lengthwise and widthwise directions, and thearea of said front piece covering said window being smaller than that ofsaid window before being connected to said girdle body, said front piecebeing connected to said girdle body with each side of said front piecebeing in stretched condition.

2. An article of apparel according to claim 1 wherein the lateral andlongitudinal dimensions of said window and front piece are different andthe difference between the lateral dimensions of said window and saidfront piece is greater than the difference between the longitudinaldimensions of said window and said from piece so that a greater lateralstretching force is imparted to said front piece and to the bodyadjacent said front piece.

3. An article of apparel according to claim 1 wherein said girdle bodyand said front piece are of the same material.

4. A method of making a girdle comprising cutting a girdle pattern oftwo-way stretch mate-rial and forming in the same a generally diamondshaped window at a position corresponding to the front of the girdlecutting a generally diamond shaped front piece of two-way stretchmaterial with an area smaller than that of said window, stretching thefront piece and sewing the stretched front piece to the pattern.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 comprising cutting the window andfront pieces with different lateral and longitudinal dimensions and withthe difference between the lateral dimensions being greater than thedifi'erence between the longitudinal dimensions, the front piece beingstretched more laterally than longitudinally.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1951 Hops 12 8525 FOREIGNPATENTS 589,712 6/1947 Great Britain.

15 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ARTICLE OF APPAREL COMPRISING A GIRDLE BODY PROVIDED WITH A WINDOWOF GENERALLY DIAMOND SHAPE AT THE FRONT REGION OF SAID GIRDLE BODY, ANDA FRONT PIECE OF SAID SHAPE CONNECTED TO CORRESPONDING SIDES OF BODY ATSAID WINDOW, SAID GIRDLE BODY AND SAID FRONT PIECE BOTH CONSISTING OF AMATERIAL STRETCHABLE IN LENGTHWISE AND WIDTHWISE DIRECTIONS, AND THEAREA OF SAID FRONT PIECE COVERING SAID WINDOW BEING SMALLER THAN THAT OFSAID WINDOW BEFORE BEING CONNECTED TO SAID GIRDLE BODY, SAID FRONT PIECEBEING CONNECTED TO SAID GIRDLE BODY WITH EACH SIDE OF SAID FRONT PIECEBEING IN STRETCHED CONDITION.